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Pseudo minecraft

PREFACE:
Avant tout, je voudrais faire une petite dédicace à TheGaudis pour avoir spoiler ce projet dans sa candidature de Chevalier (c’est un type un peu relou sympa comme tout, donc allez-y jeter un petit coup d’œil).
De plus, la demande de ce projet sera rédigée intégralement (à l’exception de la préface) en Anglais, principalement car mon niveau de français, bien que tout à fait correct, ne me permet plus de m’exprimer de la façon que je veux depuis que j’ai commencé mes études au Royaume-Uni.
Je m’excuse d’avance de la potentielle barrière linguistique que ceci pourrait poser, mais en même temps je cherche à innover. Si vous avez quelconque soucis vis-à-vis de la compréhension même du sujet, je peux répondre en français, bien que cela ruine mon petit gimmick.
Bon, allons-y.
悪魔兄弟
Akuma kyōdai
Overall Presentation of the concept:
The city is based off a fantasy Japanese universe, filled with spirits and demons (Yokai). It mixes both traditional Japanese housing styles from the countryside and a fantasy skyscraper section with high density housing because of requirements for living space.
The purpose of this town is mainly aesthetic and lore related, but also to be used as a potential reference for people who seek to spice up some of their builds, or learn about different Japanese building styles. Alternatively, it can also be used for housing players in dire need of a home.
As an added feature of the design, the city will be multilingual, i.e., both French and English. The reason for this choice is to open up to a potential English community, but also to provide a helping hand for players who seek to learn English in a more in-depth manner, meaning, every message board, book and feature will have its name in both French and English. This concept might be awkward, but we feel like this could be a valuable tool in the expansion of the community and the server as a whole. This choice will in NO WAY discriminate any player who wishes to join, and the team is more than ready to speak in both languages if required.
Joining the project does not require you to know both languages, but it’s a useful bonus.
Technical Details:
-Project name: Akuma Kyōdai
-Dimensions: Approximately 600*400 given the shape of the land (water areas included)
-Max height: 256
-Used area in this area: surface, underground and sky for floating islands.
-Objectives: mainly aesthetic, complimentary RP to another existing project (to be revealed later on), housing.
-Leaders/Founders: Xadrow
-Other participants: TheGaudis, Glieps, BA06
-Location and Overall Border:
Lore:
NOTE:
This is the role play section. For the purpose of this highly irregular project, I have prepared an even more irregular presentation of the Lore of the village: a full-on theatrical video.
Because I am conscious that not everyone’s level of English is the same, I’ve decide to put the text of the video as a spoiler underneath it. I will apologize for there not being a translation, but I really couldn’t have something as epic as I wanted it to be translated into French… it just didn’t work for me.
Also, if this project is accepted, expect an extended lore in the RP Tavern or in the potential forum thread (if we ever get there).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVCDPkh91rU&feature=youtu.be
Environmental Work implied:
- Flattening out certain high hills and removing all grass for the build.
- Cutting off the north by making a river, making the landmass an island
- Adding the sakura belt
- Terraforming the middle area for dense housing, while trying to keep the water flowing through (see on explicative maps further)
- Adding 2 large floating islands and smaller floating chunks of land.
- Naturalize the area once finished building.
Construction Style and Details:
Being heavily inspired by Japanese mythology, the building style goes accordingly: it will mainly consist of Japanese shrine like buildings, including small houses to temples and a manor/palace. On top of that, some of the streets are intended to feel kind of oppressing, with tight passages among tall buildings (similar to some scenes in Singapore in “Pirates of the Caribbean 3”).
The main materials will be wood and derived blocks (using both traditional Minecraft blocks as well as the full extent on the specific wooden blocks offered by the server, such as flower pots or overhangs/supports). The roof will be made out of netherbrick with a red slate trim. This detail is the key element of this project: a vivid red and purple roof contrasting with a light/mild and soft colour set for the main housing.
For most builds, the white walls will be made out of white marble for the richer houses and wool or snow for the less fortunate.
Except for functional buildings, skyscrapers and landmarks, including roads and decorations, cobblestone or any stone affiliated block is preferably not used, if not even banned. The reason for this is to keep a traditional look to the city, while at the same time show that it’s more of a small village instead of a huge industry filled metropolis, hence there will be little to no glass, metal or carved stones included in most buildings (some exceptions may obviously occur, as with all builds).
Eventually, Aka and Ao, the dragons from the Lore, will get their place as protecting guardians of the city, and will get life size versions built as well. Whether we will build them flying in the sky or underground still remains to be seen.
One of the key themes of this project is oppression: the woods, the dense city and the temples will be made in such a way that you feel small or weak in front of the later. This can be explained lore wise (Yokai scare humans by nature), so it should feel mystical and unknown to people who venture onto the paths around the land.
Buildings are also a lot larger in size (each floor is 5 blocks high) to add onto this idea of immenseness and oppression, and is justified by the fact that most of the Yokai are a lot taller than humans.
Building would go as follows:
-the south idle housing will be built first, slowly growing into the larger city, with the market very closely following;
-The sakura forest and orchards, as well as the farmlands will come next;
-temples, shrines and towers follow;
-The floating islands, each independently to be finished before passing onto the next one.
The reasoning behind this building order is to have a suitable project to show to people as soon as possible, and to avoid having a huge build site for too long at a time. Ultimately, this could also allow for a potential redesign of the floating islands at a later date, as they are not concrete as of yet.
The city will be planned (mostly) as follows:
The following screen shots are examples of the style that will be used for various buildings, as well as concept buildings for main monuments:
1. Idle housing
2. Temple
3. Lumberjack camp
4. Off road
5. City road
6. High tier house
7. Dragon tower
8. City skyscraper
9. Blacksmith
10. Harbor
11. Farmland and houses
12. Shrine
13. Market
14. Trees
15. The Palace
Building would also include adapting two bridges that exist already (the small one coming from Icarus and the large one inside of the terrain) to fit to the style of the project, as well as rework the pre-existing roads into the off-road style. The sand bridge leading to Säbhia will not be touched (unless something arises in the future diplomatic relations with the latter) and neither will the large bridge leading to Icarus (as requested by Glieps, owner of Icarus).
As a final note for this section, I (and all the future members of this project) am aware of the prices that come with building a city, especially this size, and we are willing to take our time to make this dream come true.
Politics and Society:
On the political standpoint, the city is a kingdom based on a militaristic hierarchy, with the power evenly split between two Over-Shogun, the Yokai sisters, impersonated by yours truly.
Any by-passer is considered a Ronin; this means all players, in the eyes of the system, are called Ronin.
Anyone who wishes to help with building or anything to aid the project within the first few months receives a citizenship’s offer, which includes a plot of land for a home. Citizenship afterwards would require a little token of kindness, whether it would be a small contribution of resources or silver coins (to still be determined).
Getting the rank of Exalted Elder means you are an important and respected member of the project. You can partake in decisions for larger community buildings.
However, the Daimyo of the land are the only ones allowed to supervise larger builds and have the final word on whether a certain aesthetical choice should be approved of or not. They follow the Shogun’s will unless told differently. The reason for this is that the project will try to marry a few different styles together, but the base concept needs to be kept. The Daimyo are chosen again by yours truly, myself.
* The ranks of the players are displayed by the roof crests on their houses. There will be 4 crest designs, each associated to a rank. If a player gets a new rank, they are to update the crest themselves. A registry will be held on who is on what rank. If a player is found to fraud their crest, they will be banned from the project.
* The habitants are peaceful and neutral, but due to their Yokai nature, if war should arise, they would fight to the death. The town does currently not partake in any alliance, organisation or corporate, and it’s standpoint on the matter is that it would rather stay on its own. Much like traditional Japanese society, the habitants, although open to regional trade, stick to themselves. The philosophy is that most humans cannot be trusted.
* The Dragon Festival, celebrating the Mother of Dragons (probably around spring), is an event that will be held at least once a year, where anyone is welcome to join for food, drinks, potions, dance and all sorts of fun. This will held in 3 potential locations: one of the orchards, the main square or in one of the dragon’s dens.
* If an Exalted Elder, Daimyo or Shogun leaves the project for any reason (including banishment of the project), it will be considered as the Death of said person, and a feast will be organised to morn him and send him off to the city of ghosts (Amaterasu). They will also receive a tombstone in the Yūrei no niwa (Garden of Ghosts).
Final Notes:
One of the main personal objectives of this project for me is to intertwine its existence and its lore with other Japanese inspired projects, and try to create a link in such a way that if you think of one project, you can’t help but think about the other ones. It wouldn’t be to create a new union, but to have a unified RP I can build later tales on (and maybe an event or two in the process?)
I’ve been working on this project for over a year, refining, reviewing and restarting several times, in hopes to please most people. While I know a few elements might look a bit like Amaterasu (dragons, Yokai populace…), I’ve done my best to create an original story and style, with a universe that works alongside the former.
If you find there is something that I was unclear about or you have any questions, please ask away, I’ll be more than happy to explain anything you wish to know or learn about.
Neighbours terms and Agreements:
- Current land “owners”:
- bygdaddy21
- diamond57
- cynfor62 (aka Thomas62630)
- Flareheat
- 3 more houses with owners I could not identify as of yet because they haven’t got a sign saying it’s their house.
A Scribe (Sadaroh) is currently working on the formalities as it would seem all these players would have abandoned the houses.
- Icarus: Accepted
-Caras Galadhon: pending [moderator’s project]
-Valmont: pending [moderator’s project]
-Säbhia: pending [moderator’s project]
My most sincere thanks to:
-TheGaudis: For helping me with everything, from concepts to organization, to how to proceed with the formalities of founding projects. I’m not kidding when I say that if it weren’t for him, this project would probably never have seen the light of day.
-Stalroc: For honouring me with his voice acting for the Lore video, as well as his acting performance and for his support during my concept, design and finalizing stages
-Kélaïre: For its beautiful location for the filming of the Lore end scene.
-Icarus: For accepting my project to be placed next to theirs.
-Appalahuacs: for her amazing performance of Xadrow during the Lore end scene.
-Sadaroh: for relieving me of my fear that someone was preparing a project on the same land as I was, and for helping me out with the abandoned houses.
-Novi: for making a generous donation of 5000 Silver Coins ( PA ) under the condition that the project would be accepted.
More people to come eventually
Post updates:
-26/09/15: TheGaudis joined the project
Glieps joined the project
-29/09/15: added confimation that Bygdaddy21 has moved out of his previous home.
-1st/10/15: added end artwork
-4th/10/15: received a conditional donation of 5000 PA from Novi
-10th/10/15: added screenshots of the Palace design
-16th/10/15: BA06 joined the project
To be filled in eventually
Thank you for reading, thank you for your time, and thank you for your interest. I hope to see you all at the ceremonial opening when the Sakura trees blossom.

PROLOGUE
...You walked into the tavern, dripping wet from the storm outside. It was dark, poorly lit by a few candles across the main counter. A rather brutish looking man was cleaning a beer glass behind it, looking at you with a dubious stare, scanning for anything that might make his business even harder than it already was. The people in the tavern all turned as you came in, staring intensively at you as you walked down towards the counter. Each step was as if you were on the point of tripping a bear trap.
"Une chope s'il vous-plait," you asked.
The mood brightened up into a sudden uproar, and people started cheering, chanting and dancing as a olden band played in one of the corners. It had turned from a empty room to a dinning hall. Beer and food flew over the tables, a few dwarves were on the point of smashing a table with an axe, and a bunch of men were showing off with an arm-wrestling contest.
"Qu'est-ce qui se passe?" you gasped, shocked by this sudden mood swing.
"Et bien, vous avez fait preuve de quelquechose que mon entreprise n'a pas vu depuis un peu de temps. Quelqu'un qui parle français!" answered the barman.
"Comment-ça? N'est-ce pas coutume sur New-Stendel de parler français?"
"Si, évidement que se l'est!" he replied, making signs with his hand to come closer. "Mais visiblement ce n'est pas la coutume de tout le monde."
He pointed a table near the chimney, where a client was having a glass of wine by himself. Though lit by the fireplace, his face was covered by a cloak, making him unrecognizable. There was a red mask on the table, and a rather peculiar large scroll next to it.
"Ce client est là depuis bien une semaine maintenant, mais il ne parle pas un mot de français." explained the barman.
"Quelle langue parle-t-il alors?"
"Anglais," he answered, and spit in a jug next to him on the floor, the slime ball resonating in the brass pot.
"Et comment a-t-il commandé sa boisson?"
"Il y avait Sieur Stalroc sur les lieux lors de son arrivée, et après une longue discussion avec lui, il commanda un verre de vin pour l'étranger... Mais c'est toujours son premier verre, et il est encore à moitié plain!"
He had another look at the man, raising an eyebrow, before addinG:
"Ce n'est pas que je ne veuille pas servir un étranger, mais il est mauvais pour le commerce. Les gens n'aiment pas quelqu'un qui ne chante pas avec eux quand ils sont un peu dans les vaps vous voyez...".
You looked at the client again, intrigued, thanked and payed the barman, and slowly made you way towards the hooded figure.
"Mind if I sat with you?" you asked.
The stranger was a little shocked at first, but he look at you, and with a polite hand gesture, offered you a seat.
the cloak shrouded his face, but he wore a long robe like pair of pants and silken belts. From one of his bracelets, you could recognize a few oriental symbols, though you didn't know what they meant. you heard a sudden drop fall onto the table, clearly coming from the cloaked face. A drop of red ooze glimmered in the fire light, crimson and gelatinous. The stranger quickly placed his hand over it, and cleaned it off with a single soft stroke, leaving the table cleaner than it was before.
"Sir, pardon my rudeness, but I was wondering where you came from," you asked.
The hooded figure turned towards you, slowly, and took his cloak off. What was revealed was a humanoid figure made out of red gelatin or slime, with pitch black eyes and mouth. He looked at you, perplexed.
" You too are a rather special human I see. Only few have asked me anything to be honest, let alone anything about myself. Humans seem to be afraid of the unknown by nature, yet here you are asking a civilized question."
He stared for a while, before saying:
"I come from far away...
LOST CHAPTER: Hellfire and Goo...
CHAPTER 1: Bookworms and travellers
CHAPTER 1.5 Trail of the Twisted Lumberjack
CHAPTER 2: The foreshadowing of War
CHAPTER 3: The Iron Behemoth over Dark Waters
CHAPTER 3.5: Into the Black Smoke
CHAPTER 4: Scroll and Fury
CHAPTER 5: Roots: Renewing the Cherry Tree
CHAPTER 6: Shadows of Kurogawa
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the tales of a Blood Slime.
As you might have noticed, it's in English. Have fun reading something new and exiting, linked to my experiences on this server. Currently there are 6 chapters planed (on top of the Lost chapter).
These will serve as my personal RP for my future ranks (if ever I so wish to rank up), but also as a little fun story to add onto my Minefield adventure.
I hope you enjoy my writing and hope to see you soon in game.
regards, xadrow - Kawaii Akuma